Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1887-03-25
ONLY A BRAKEMAN KILLED.
Plea for the Faithful Men who Risk
Their Lives Daily.

Plea for the Faithful Men who Risk
Their Lives Daily.
tFrom tho Chicago Herald.I
An instance of the cruelty of our modern
civilization and its infinitely diversified appli-
ances and customs is found in the fact that
the death of railway employee, through one
of the minor casualties of his calling, is no
longer considered worthy mention in the news
celums of metropolitan newspaper; or, if
mentioned at all, a limo is generally sufi-
cient to chronicle the bare fact, details be-
ing utterly neglected. In the dispatches it
used to be:
stBy broken rail seven freight cars were
thrown off the track near this place last night
and their contents, consisting of valuable
merchandise, almost destroyed. The loss of
the company will reach $4,000. Passenger
trains were delayed nearly an hour. rigid
investigation will follow. One brakeman as
killed"
Formerly minor accidents to employees
were telegraphed to city papers, but now
all correspondents are instructed to omit
sending intelligence concerning the common
accidents of the rail, in which employees
only suffer, unless the fatal ties number
more than one or some unusual circunstan-
css or causes are present. Almost every
week some railway employee loses his life
or limb in the Chicago railway yards with
out any mention of the casualty being made
in the city papers. This sesms cruel, but
the truth is that the sort of news is rarely
worth printing. As the world goes these
items are unimportant and newsnen neglect
them. But with passengers it is quite differ
ent. The commonest accident involving the
safety of a passenger or injury to his
person is carefully Investigated and reported.
And just now the papers are filed with ar
ticles demanding that the death dealing
stove shall be banished, that safety gates
be put up at all crossings, and that every
possible precaution be taken to secure
safety for the travelling public and for
pedestrians and street travellers who must
cross railway tracks. But not word is heard
in behalf of the employees, whom the jugger-
nauts Of the rail are slaughtering and manning
by the thousands every year.
"Only brakeman killed" What story
the figures of railway tell-and, after all,
there is nothing like cold figures to point
moral or tell a tale. In Massachusetts,
last year only one passenger in 7,594, ,25S was
killed, and one in 2,166,931 injured. This
ratio is not an alarming one, but when we
come to employees the ratio is very differ
ent There were 274 casualties to employ
ees. 63 of which were fatal. On the Fitch
burg road one employee out of every thirty
one was injured. On other roads about one
in 100. Most of these casualties were in
coupling or uneoupling cars. Fo1ty-eight,
or nearly one a week, were injured in this
way on one road. One can, therefore, read
lily believe that on almost any of our larger
railways of the west a man day is the aver
age ratio of the rapacious demon of car
coupling. Next come casualties to trainmen
from falling from train-overs one a week
in the whole State of Massachusetts,, and
probably twice or thrice as many as in
Illinois. Take the Chicago, Burlington &
Quincy road for home instance, and than
the Burlington there is no better managed
road in the world. In recent year this
road carried in Illinois 2, ITO, 600 passengers.
Half dozen of these were injured and none
killed OF the 1900 engineers, fremen,
brakemen, baggagemen, switchmen, and con-
ductors employed in Illinois more than 200
were killed or injured In fully one fourth
OF the cases the demon coupling was the
agent of injury or death. Ali along the line
of ever. railway IN the country, and particu-
larry i'll the division station towns, where
many railway employees live, will be found
small armies of widows, orphans and manned
mon.